Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ When the Heart Overrules... ❯ Reunion and Smiles ( Chapter 3 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Tygerlilee 
Heero and Relena are reunited.
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.31.2001 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 289 | Status: Work In Progress
Heero and Relena are reunited.
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.31.2001 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 289 | Status: Work In Progress
When the Heart Overrules...
By Tygerlilee
Chapter Three
Reunion and Smiles
Disclaimer: Wow! You already know that I don't own GW!?!? Are you psychic!!
/ denotes thought, etc.
* denotes flashback or a sound (ex. of sound... *glup*)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~
Marseille, France, Earth
The next day, Heero sat at an open cafŽ with the flight records and a highlighter in one hand, and a fork in the other. /These guys are clueless. I thought that they might be hiding something, but with all this, it's clear that they just plain don't know and don't want me to know that they don't know, / Heero commented to himself.
He munched on his omelet and every now and then highlighted a word or phrase that might be of some importance.
Relena hurried into a friendly little open cafŽ on a bright street corner and eagerly grabbed a table. /I'm so hungry!! Those delegates took way to long, / she thought.
Suddenly she glanced up to see a handsome Japanese man in a nice suit, minus the jacket--slung over his chair, with unruly hair. His expression was blank as he ate and read. /Heero? No, it can't be!!/ Relena's minded jumped.
She glanced around, grabbed her bag, and, mustering up her courage, walked over to him.
Heero was deep in thought when a girl's voice boldly asked "Is this seat taken."
Heero glanced up. "Relena," he said softly.
"So it is you Heero." Heero noticed that she seemed very pleased. "Do you mind," she asked, indicating to the empty chair at his table.
"I don't see anyone's name on it. You can do what you want," Heero told her.
Relena smiled and started to say something, but was interrupted by the waitress. After what appeared to be eeny-meany-miny-moe, Relena pointed to something and turned back to Heero. "So, where did you disappear to?" she asked.
"L-2. I'm living with Duo and Hilde," he said.
"They never told me anything!" Relena seemed calmly shocked. "You completely disappear into oblivion, and I find out that you're staying with Duo and Hilde."
/Always in control of yourself, Relena. You haven't changed in that respect, / Heero observed.
"So how's their business. Hilde told me something about their 'house', quote, unquote."
"Hilde and Duo fixed up the warehouse next to their business," Heero said. "And the business if fine," Heero finished.
Heero looked back at his paper and took another bite of his omelet.
"Aren't you going to tell me what you're doing here and all about your life?" Relena inquired.
Without looking up, Heero answered, "It's pretty boring. I didn't think that you'd care."
"I wouldn't care?" again, Relena seemed appropriately shocked. "Of course I care! Tell me all about yourself." Relena, clasping her hands under her chin, looked at him eagerly, obviously awaiting his life's story.
Heero sighed inwardly and began, "I took the GED and some AP's. I went to college and now I design airplanes. I'm here to help clear up this whole NT-67 mess." He paused to take a bite, "that's about it."
Relena looked him straight in the eye, "That's it, huh?" she said incredulously. "How on earth did you know enough to pass any AP's, where did you go to college, and what did you major in?" she asked imitating his form, trying to prompt him into a conversation.
Heero looked at her and went on, "You can't be trained to be a pilot without learning some physics and math. I went to L-1 Community Institute and majored in mechanical engineering, specialized in air and spacecraft. I got a Ph.D. at Caltech on Earth. I got a job at SSI and moved in with Duo and Hilde."
Relena smiled and paused, as if trying to think of something else to ask him about. A short silence ensued. "Heero, I thought you promised to protect me," Relena finally teased.
"I know I did, but that was when your brother was dead. Now he's alive and can watch out for you. What's more is that the Preventors are gaining power and influence. Lady Une is a very adept leader and Wufei and Sally are excellent employees. Noin is also on the 'protect Relena' committee. There's no need for me; however, if anything were to happen, Wufei knows where to find me," Heero told her. "What are you doing here?" Heero quickly changed the subject.
Relena smiled. /You really are something, Heero. /
"I'm here settling the channel disputes," she explained.
Heero nodded "The French and English are both very possessive. Be careful. The French can have hot tempers with all the alcohol in their systems, and the English have their long established pride."
"I know," Relena sighed, and began to politely eat the shredded wheat that the waitress brought her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
After lunch Heero hurried back to the airfield to run a few hypotheses by the engineers who built the plane. They had flown in this morning.
"Mr. Yuy, how was lunch," M. D'Adamo politely asked.
Heero ignored his inquiry and went straight to business, straight for the throats one might say. "According to these reports, no unusual sounds were heard by the pilot nor any of the passengers?"
M. D'Adamo seemed to be getting used to Heero's bluntness and distaste for pleasantries. "No one reported anything, not to me."
"I want to inspect the plane myself," Heero told him.
M. D'Adamo seemed incredulous, but agreed. He led Heero to the main cockpit door, and Heero climbed up. He wove his way in between people and various dissembled parts to the cabin and sat down in the pilot's chair.
"Pardon me, if this sounds rude," M. D'Adamo began.
Heero didn't look up. M. D'Adamo cleared his throat and began again, "I may be provincial and a bit small minded compared to you and your high-tech methods, but I really don't see how sitting where the pilot does will help you at all."
Without looking up, Heero replied, "Your flattery may sound intelligent and suave in your own language, but in English you just sound like an idiot. The pilot or co-pilot may have accidentally knocked something. I'm seeing what would be possible."
That seemed to silence M. D'Adamo and he left quietly. /Thank you. The chatter box shadow has left the building, / Heero unkindly thought to himself.
He glanced around once to see if the plane had cleared a little and quickly made his way through to the back rooms. He checked the damage to the plane along to way. Several seatbelts had snapped and the craft reeked of vomit. No one had died, but there had been several serious concussions, several in a coma. The autopilot had kicked in after the pilot blacked out. After approximately five minutes, the pilot awoke and safely landed the plane at Marseille as an emergency stop.
/It probably had something to do with the fuel supply, / Heero decided as he pulled a screw driver out of his pocket and took out several 3' by 3' back panels on the starboard side. /This is where the fuel tank is according to the blueprints. /
Heero took a small flashlight out of his pocket and began his inspection. The wires seemed connected correctly. The top of the fuel tank was visible from Heero's standpoint, and that part did not seem damaged.
Heero pulled out a circuit board and placed it carefully beside him, then, shoving various cords and wires out of the way, he took a closer look. /I can't see enough of it. I'll have to go in. /
Heero cleared a space large enough to drop himself into it. He climbed down with a cat's ease and silence. The cavity was a tight fit, and his movements were restricted, but he could do it. He was not one to suffer from claustrophobia.
He traced the top edge with his flashlight, checking for dents and the like. There were no spills, nor scuffs. The place was spick and span. /Nothing. CRAP!!!/
He quickly turned off the light and, grasping the top edge, pulled himself out of the slender cavity.
"Mr. Yuy, the crews already checked that area," M. Devon's cold calculating voice reminded Heero.
Heero calmly stood up. "They checked this particular area? The reports said nothing about routine checks of the circuit boards," Heero skillfully smoothed over his actions, hiding what he was really looking for, as well as appearing completely unruffled at being caught. /He didn't see me getting out. I would have noticed him when I pulled myself up, so maybe he'll by it. /
/They're getting jumpy, / his mind continued its unrestricted thought process. /The airlines obviously want to be the ones to find the problem and thereby not owing anything to SSI. And the NT company depends on this for its survival. I better be more cautious. / Heero realized.
"You didn't receive that report?" M. Devon asked nervously, obviously lying through his teeth.
"No, I didn't," and Heero quickly and expertly moved the wires and circuits
back into place. Then he replaced the aluminum panels, looked directly into M. Devon's eyes, and left.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~
"How're we doing on this investigation," M. Mathieu asked.
M. Devon looked uncomfortably at his shoes, M. D'Adamo looked pleased at the display of temper. "I see," he said. "Well, get a move on. This Mr. Yuy character is making me nervous. He's smart all right, and sees through BS faster than any politician I've ever met. He wants to go home, that's clear now! The faster he figures this out, the faster he gets to go there. But, if he beats us to this, we will have to buy planes from SSI, and he knows it and that's a promotion and raise for him! Which is exactly why he's investigating on his own and why he doesn't trust us! At this rate I think we just may have to buy planes!!" M. Mathieu barked, a vein at his temple pulsing.
"Devon, what was he looking at this afternoon?" M. Mathieu asked, his temper slightly more under control as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples with both hands.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure," M. Devon said nervously.
"You're not exactly sure?" M. Mathieu said, his voice dangerously quiet. "WELL GET SURE, AND GET SURE NOW!!!" he screamed, carefully and clearly enunciating 'now'.
"Uh, M. Mathieu," M. D'Adamo interrupted. M. Mathieu's head snapped over to look at him.
"What," he snapped.
"M. Devon said that he was looking at the back starboard panels," he began.
"And that means..." M. Mathieu let his voice trail off for the effect.
"That means that he thinks it has something to do with fuel control. A top view of the fuel tanks can be seen from that viewpoint. The reports he was given already said that the side and back showed no damage, but they wouldn't anyway because the cause was not outside elements," M. D'Adamo told them.
"He said that he was checking the circuit boards," M. Devon told him in an exasperated tone.
"Of course he SAID that. He was covering for what he was really looking for," M. D'Adamo said.
"Why would he do that?" M. Devon asked.
"Haven't you been listening? We're hiding things from him, thus he will hide information from us. He wants out of here, and he thinks we are all blithering idiots, which mind you, I am also inclined to believe! He is confident enough in his own skills that he thinks he doesn't need our help, so he covers up," a very annoyed M. Mathieu explained slowly and clearly.
"Well, that means we have one advantage," M. Mathieu said, almost to himself as he turned to face a window.
The other two men looked at him questioningly. M. Mathieu smiled and answered, "He knew where to find the fuel tanks, so he must have found a blueprint of a similar plane. But this plane was custom built for flying over long stretches of desert land. Its fueled by not only gas, but also solar. He won't know that, and he can't find that out. The only place that it's recorded is in our private records, and that's all under security lock. He CAN"T get that. It's not possible. He's an engineer, not a computer hacker." M. Mathieu seemed very confident in his revelation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Relena quickly fished through her suitcase for something different to wear. She and Heero had met for dinner the other night and they both had so much fun that they were going again.
Well, maybe Heero hadn't SAID that he had had fun, but he did ask if she was busy tonight. Relena felt like she was floating.
Fifteen minutes later, Relena glided out of her hotel to meet the young man waiting for her outside. "Relena," Heero held out his arm for her, also taking in her eveningwear. Relena, pleased with herself, grinned like a mad idiot.
Relena and Heero ate at a beautiful seafood restaurant for lobster and dancing /I'll have to remember to tell Duo to stop here with Hilde if he's ever in the area/ Heero made a mental note.
Relena had been both surprised and relieved that Heero could speak French. /Who knows what I might have ordered! / Relena had seen a couple with jellied pigs feet on one table.
She looked across that table to where Heero sat and hid her smile by placing her napkin on her lap. /Heero, I'm so glad that I found you. / Relena felt more at ease than she had in a long time.
"What is it, Relena?" Heero asked, interrupting her reverie.
"Hm," Relena looked up at him, startled. "Oh," she laughed softly. "Nothing. I was just thinking how nice it is to be with you again."
Heero started to say something, but the waiter arrived with their drinks, and he seemed to loose the thought.
"The English and the French have both submitted drafts of an agreement for the channel, but its taking forever to fish through all the gobbledygook and find all of their loop-holes," Relena informed Heero as he walked her back to her hotel room. They continued to talk, or at least Relena talked and Heero put forth a comment every once in a while. The conversation was riddled with silences, but they were comfortable. Both seemed to just enjoy having the other near.
It was eleven-thirty by the time they reached the hotel, and the street was empty. Relena quickly pecked Heero on the lips and turned to the building, hiding her blushing, but halted when he grabbed her arm. Relena stopped and looked questioningly at him. "Why..." Heero started.
"Its rude not to return someone's kiss," she said, thankful that it was fairly dark. The only light came from street lamps and fireflies.
"But that was a long time ago Relena," Heero reminded her, referring to the kiss he had given her during the peace before the Mariemeia incident. "Such a long stretched of time invalidates the return," he explained.
Relena smiled and said, "Well then, you don't want to be rude, do you?" Her left eyebrow was arched into a challenge.
Heero met it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~
A/N: Is this better?
Also the starboard side is the left side--used in boats, airplanes, etc.
The French DO serve jellied pigs feet-my parents have had it while in France.
By Tygerlilee
Chapter Three
Reunion and Smiles
Disclaimer: Wow! You already know that I don't own GW!?!? Are you psychic!!
/ denotes thought, etc.
* denotes flashback or a sound (ex. of sound... *glup*)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~
Marseille, France, Earth
The next day, Heero sat at an open cafŽ with the flight records and a highlighter in one hand, and a fork in the other. /These guys are clueless. I thought that they might be hiding something, but with all this, it's clear that they just plain don't know and don't want me to know that they don't know, / Heero commented to himself.
He munched on his omelet and every now and then highlighted a word or phrase that might be of some importance.
Relena hurried into a friendly little open cafŽ on a bright street corner and eagerly grabbed a table. /I'm so hungry!! Those delegates took way to long, / she thought.
Suddenly she glanced up to see a handsome Japanese man in a nice suit, minus the jacket--slung over his chair, with unruly hair. His expression was blank as he ate and read. /Heero? No, it can't be!!/ Relena's minded jumped.
She glanced around, grabbed her bag, and, mustering up her courage, walked over to him.
Heero was deep in thought when a girl's voice boldly asked "Is this seat taken."
Heero glanced up. "Relena," he said softly.
"So it is you Heero." Heero noticed that she seemed very pleased. "Do you mind," she asked, indicating to the empty chair at his table.
"I don't see anyone's name on it. You can do what you want," Heero told her.
Relena smiled and started to say something, but was interrupted by the waitress. After what appeared to be eeny-meany-miny-moe, Relena pointed to something and turned back to Heero. "So, where did you disappear to?" she asked.
"L-2. I'm living with Duo and Hilde," he said.
"They never told me anything!" Relena seemed calmly shocked. "You completely disappear into oblivion, and I find out that you're staying with Duo and Hilde."
/Always in control of yourself, Relena. You haven't changed in that respect, / Heero observed.
"So how's their business. Hilde told me something about their 'house', quote, unquote."
"Hilde and Duo fixed up the warehouse next to their business," Heero said. "And the business if fine," Heero finished.
Heero looked back at his paper and took another bite of his omelet.
"Aren't you going to tell me what you're doing here and all about your life?" Relena inquired.
Without looking up, Heero answered, "It's pretty boring. I didn't think that you'd care."
"I wouldn't care?" again, Relena seemed appropriately shocked. "Of course I care! Tell me all about yourself." Relena, clasping her hands under her chin, looked at him eagerly, obviously awaiting his life's story.
Heero sighed inwardly and began, "I took the GED and some AP's. I went to college and now I design airplanes. I'm here to help clear up this whole NT-67 mess." He paused to take a bite, "that's about it."
Relena looked him straight in the eye, "That's it, huh?" she said incredulously. "How on earth did you know enough to pass any AP's, where did you go to college, and what did you major in?" she asked imitating his form, trying to prompt him into a conversation.
Heero looked at her and went on, "You can't be trained to be a pilot without learning some physics and math. I went to L-1 Community Institute and majored in mechanical engineering, specialized in air and spacecraft. I got a Ph.D. at Caltech on Earth. I got a job at SSI and moved in with Duo and Hilde."
Relena smiled and paused, as if trying to think of something else to ask him about. A short silence ensued. "Heero, I thought you promised to protect me," Relena finally teased.
"I know I did, but that was when your brother was dead. Now he's alive and can watch out for you. What's more is that the Preventors are gaining power and influence. Lady Une is a very adept leader and Wufei and Sally are excellent employees. Noin is also on the 'protect Relena' committee. There's no need for me; however, if anything were to happen, Wufei knows where to find me," Heero told her. "What are you doing here?" Heero quickly changed the subject.
Relena smiled. /You really are something, Heero. /
"I'm here settling the channel disputes," she explained.
Heero nodded "The French and English are both very possessive. Be careful. The French can have hot tempers with all the alcohol in their systems, and the English have their long established pride."
"I know," Relena sighed, and began to politely eat the shredded wheat that the waitress brought her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
After lunch Heero hurried back to the airfield to run a few hypotheses by the engineers who built the plane. They had flown in this morning.
"Mr. Yuy, how was lunch," M. D'Adamo politely asked.
Heero ignored his inquiry and went straight to business, straight for the throats one might say. "According to these reports, no unusual sounds were heard by the pilot nor any of the passengers?"
M. D'Adamo seemed to be getting used to Heero's bluntness and distaste for pleasantries. "No one reported anything, not to me."
"I want to inspect the plane myself," Heero told him.
M. D'Adamo seemed incredulous, but agreed. He led Heero to the main cockpit door, and Heero climbed up. He wove his way in between people and various dissembled parts to the cabin and sat down in the pilot's chair.
"Pardon me, if this sounds rude," M. D'Adamo began.
Heero didn't look up. M. D'Adamo cleared his throat and began again, "I may be provincial and a bit small minded compared to you and your high-tech methods, but I really don't see how sitting where the pilot does will help you at all."
Without looking up, Heero replied, "Your flattery may sound intelligent and suave in your own language, but in English you just sound like an idiot. The pilot or co-pilot may have accidentally knocked something. I'm seeing what would be possible."
That seemed to silence M. D'Adamo and he left quietly. /Thank you. The chatter box shadow has left the building, / Heero unkindly thought to himself.
He glanced around once to see if the plane had cleared a little and quickly made his way through to the back rooms. He checked the damage to the plane along to way. Several seatbelts had snapped and the craft reeked of vomit. No one had died, but there had been several serious concussions, several in a coma. The autopilot had kicked in after the pilot blacked out. After approximately five minutes, the pilot awoke and safely landed the plane at Marseille as an emergency stop.
/It probably had something to do with the fuel supply, / Heero decided as he pulled a screw driver out of his pocket and took out several 3' by 3' back panels on the starboard side. /This is where the fuel tank is according to the blueprints. /
Heero took a small flashlight out of his pocket and began his inspection. The wires seemed connected correctly. The top of the fuel tank was visible from Heero's standpoint, and that part did not seem damaged.
Heero pulled out a circuit board and placed it carefully beside him, then, shoving various cords and wires out of the way, he took a closer look. /I can't see enough of it. I'll have to go in. /
Heero cleared a space large enough to drop himself into it. He climbed down with a cat's ease and silence. The cavity was a tight fit, and his movements were restricted, but he could do it. He was not one to suffer from claustrophobia.
He traced the top edge with his flashlight, checking for dents and the like. There were no spills, nor scuffs. The place was spick and span. /Nothing. CRAP!!!/
He quickly turned off the light and, grasping the top edge, pulled himself out of the slender cavity.
"Mr. Yuy, the crews already checked that area," M. Devon's cold calculating voice reminded Heero.
Heero calmly stood up. "They checked this particular area? The reports said nothing about routine checks of the circuit boards," Heero skillfully smoothed over his actions, hiding what he was really looking for, as well as appearing completely unruffled at being caught. /He didn't see me getting out. I would have noticed him when I pulled myself up, so maybe he'll by it. /
/They're getting jumpy, / his mind continued its unrestricted thought process. /The airlines obviously want to be the ones to find the problem and thereby not owing anything to SSI. And the NT company depends on this for its survival. I better be more cautious. / Heero realized.
"You didn't receive that report?" M. Devon asked nervously, obviously lying through his teeth.
"No, I didn't," and Heero quickly and expertly moved the wires and circuits
back into place. Then he replaced the aluminum panels, looked directly into M. Devon's eyes, and left.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~
"How're we doing on this investigation," M. Mathieu asked.
M. Devon looked uncomfortably at his shoes, M. D'Adamo looked pleased at the display of temper. "I see," he said. "Well, get a move on. This Mr. Yuy character is making me nervous. He's smart all right, and sees through BS faster than any politician I've ever met. He wants to go home, that's clear now! The faster he figures this out, the faster he gets to go there. But, if he beats us to this, we will have to buy planes from SSI, and he knows it and that's a promotion and raise for him! Which is exactly why he's investigating on his own and why he doesn't trust us! At this rate I think we just may have to buy planes!!" M. Mathieu barked, a vein at his temple pulsing.
"Devon, what was he looking at this afternoon?" M. Mathieu asked, his temper slightly more under control as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples with both hands.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure," M. Devon said nervously.
"You're not exactly sure?" M. Mathieu said, his voice dangerously quiet. "WELL GET SURE, AND GET SURE NOW!!!" he screamed, carefully and clearly enunciating 'now'.
"Uh, M. Mathieu," M. D'Adamo interrupted. M. Mathieu's head snapped over to look at him.
"What," he snapped.
"M. Devon said that he was looking at the back starboard panels," he began.
"And that means..." M. Mathieu let his voice trail off for the effect.
"That means that he thinks it has something to do with fuel control. A top view of the fuel tanks can be seen from that viewpoint. The reports he was given already said that the side and back showed no damage, but they wouldn't anyway because the cause was not outside elements," M. D'Adamo told them.
"He said that he was checking the circuit boards," M. Devon told him in an exasperated tone.
"Of course he SAID that. He was covering for what he was really looking for," M. D'Adamo said.
"Why would he do that?" M. Devon asked.
"Haven't you been listening? We're hiding things from him, thus he will hide information from us. He wants out of here, and he thinks we are all blithering idiots, which mind you, I am also inclined to believe! He is confident enough in his own skills that he thinks he doesn't need our help, so he covers up," a very annoyed M. Mathieu explained slowly and clearly.
"Well, that means we have one advantage," M. Mathieu said, almost to himself as he turned to face a window.
The other two men looked at him questioningly. M. Mathieu smiled and answered, "He knew where to find the fuel tanks, so he must have found a blueprint of a similar plane. But this plane was custom built for flying over long stretches of desert land. Its fueled by not only gas, but also solar. He won't know that, and he can't find that out. The only place that it's recorded is in our private records, and that's all under security lock. He CAN"T get that. It's not possible. He's an engineer, not a computer hacker." M. Mathieu seemed very confident in his revelation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Relena quickly fished through her suitcase for something different to wear. She and Heero had met for dinner the other night and they both had so much fun that they were going again.
Well, maybe Heero hadn't SAID that he had had fun, but he did ask if she was busy tonight. Relena felt like she was floating.
Fifteen minutes later, Relena glided out of her hotel to meet the young man waiting for her outside. "Relena," Heero held out his arm for her, also taking in her eveningwear. Relena, pleased with herself, grinned like a mad idiot.
Relena and Heero ate at a beautiful seafood restaurant for lobster and dancing /I'll have to remember to tell Duo to stop here with Hilde if he's ever in the area/ Heero made a mental note.
Relena had been both surprised and relieved that Heero could speak French. /Who knows what I might have ordered! / Relena had seen a couple with jellied pigs feet on one table.
She looked across that table to where Heero sat and hid her smile by placing her napkin on her lap. /Heero, I'm so glad that I found you. / Relena felt more at ease than she had in a long time.
"What is it, Relena?" Heero asked, interrupting her reverie.
"Hm," Relena looked up at him, startled. "Oh," she laughed softly. "Nothing. I was just thinking how nice it is to be with you again."
Heero started to say something, but the waiter arrived with their drinks, and he seemed to loose the thought.
"The English and the French have both submitted drafts of an agreement for the channel, but its taking forever to fish through all the gobbledygook and find all of their loop-holes," Relena informed Heero as he walked her back to her hotel room. They continued to talk, or at least Relena talked and Heero put forth a comment every once in a while. The conversation was riddled with silences, but they were comfortable. Both seemed to just enjoy having the other near.
It was eleven-thirty by the time they reached the hotel, and the street was empty. Relena quickly pecked Heero on the lips and turned to the building, hiding her blushing, but halted when he grabbed her arm. Relena stopped and looked questioningly at him. "Why..." Heero started.
"Its rude not to return someone's kiss," she said, thankful that it was fairly dark. The only light came from street lamps and fireflies.
"But that was a long time ago Relena," Heero reminded her, referring to the kiss he had given her during the peace before the Mariemeia incident. "Such a long stretched of time invalidates the return," he explained.
Relena smiled and said, "Well then, you don't want to be rude, do you?" Her left eyebrow was arched into a challenge.
Heero met it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~
A/N: Is this better?
Also the starboard side is the left side--used in boats, airplanes, etc.
The French DO serve jellied pigs feet-my parents have had it while in France.